


This is how we win

by SarcasmLand



Category: PIERCE Tamora - Works, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Feel-good, One Shot, ish, releasing emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-08 21:05:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15938270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarcasmLand/pseuds/SarcasmLand
Summary: Kel had a plan for what she would do when the news came. It... fell apart?Honestly, it went much better than it could have.





	This is how we win

_This_ , Kel had thought, _is what I will do_.

She'd planned it out in her head, carefully, every word and every motion. Who she would look at triumphantly and who she would look at in thanks for their support. How her hands wouldn’t move, how her head would stay tall, how no one would know how she was feeling inside, just as they hadn’t since she was five.

 

 _It’s Now_ , Kel thinks.

Barely, though, because every song in the world is playing in her head, and the thoughts are dancing along, and thus occupied.

 

People are still here - Neal, Merric, Cleon, Owen, and the rest, those who have seen Kel through every one of her stupidest decisions ever. She still shouldn’t jump. She should stay calm. Right?

But, as you may know, history often repeats itself.

 

 _The king is still standing there_ , she notes in some subconscious place. _Don’t do anything stupid in front of the king. Nothing stupid in front of the king, right?_

But, as you may know, one’s subconscious is often left ignored.

 

The memory of a tent, and a girl, or were there three? Yes - three. There were three, and now one… Kel should contain her excitement. Kel should contain her excitement and go celebrate with Alanna later. Kel should do the sensible thing. Right?

But, as you may know, the sensible thing is often pushed to the side.

 

This is all of those oftens.

\--

This is how Kel releases twenty-six years of joy into the air within two hours.

\--

This is how Alanna, standing with the help of a cane in front of the Chamber door as it opens on a standing, healthy Fianola, wins her last duel.

\--

This is how Lianokami, standing tall and proud in armor in front of the knights she’s about to lead into battle, can tell the story of their predecessors. Their heroes. The ones they looked up to for so many years, wrote essays on, read books about. The two women, who, for one exciting day in Corus, ran through the palace together, laughing and crying in turns at the news that a third would join their ranks.

\--

This is how the lady knights ride into battle: armor beaten up, scars apparent, weapons used to kill many an opponent, eyes focused, eyes straining, and together, eyes laughing.

\--

 

This is how they win.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this wasn't too random.  
> Thank you for reading this sentence, and if you read the whole fanfic, you're awesome. Thanks!


End file.
